stir up

verb

stirred up; stirring up; stirs up

transitive verb

1

: to cause (someone) to feel a strong emotion and a desire to do something

The speech stirred up the crowd.

2

: to cause (something) to move up into and through the air or water

The workers stirred up a lot of dust.

3

: to disturb the quiet of : agitate

a bear stirring up the bees

4

: to cause (something, usually something bad or unpleasant) to happen

They're trying to stir up trouble.

But, of course, there's a reason politicians generally try to communicate deliberately: It helps them avoid saying things that might offend voters or stir up controversy.

—Philip Bump

I'm not a rebel, trying to stir things up just to be provocative.

—Norma Klein

… the incident stirred up a hornet's nest of protest and indignation.

—Robert T. Martinott

Examples of stir up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Apparently, microwaving your tea is a tea-making method that stirs up some heated opinions, although some people still swear by heating water for tea in the microwave. — Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2026

Their emotional accusation stirs up drama as the moon clashes with Mars. — Usa Today, USA Today, 2 Aug. 2026

And over the weekend, Hurricane Fausto was stirring up surf in Southern California on its approach to Hawaii. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 27 July 2026

The most common feeling right now is depletion and exhaustion—the heatwave intensified the Mercury retrograde’s degrees, stirring up even more trouble. — Lisa Stardust, Vogue, 26 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for stir up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup